The Demon Project
by ABSOselfRBED
Summary: 9 Years have passed since Dr. Eggman mysteriously lost his mind, and conflicts between friends have left Sonic and his allies more estranged than ever before. However, when a new enemy begins attacking from the shadows, the most unwilling hero must gather a team to stop it. But with so much changed, who will stand with him?
1. Chapter 1

**SQUEEEEEE! Sorry, just had** **to** **get** **that** **out. I mean, stop. This is serious.**

…

**So this is my first fanfic, but 2****nd**** chapter. Wha? So basically I did a test-story to test these waters. The chapter was deleated, but I thank ye all for your comments, good and bad, though now that I'm working on a "serious" project, I'd prefer, erm, **_**constructive**_** comments. Y'anyhoo, I have a leetle statement to make: This is from Shadow's p.o.v. for now, which I'm really nervous about. I tried other ways, but it wouldn't fit any other way. Plus (at the moment) he has little-to-**_**no**_** sense of humor. So that'll be difficult. Fyi, this is set X amount of years in the future; ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED. **

The automatic lockpick beeped quietly, a tiny red light on its side flashing.

I looked up and down the hallway, waiting with my quills bushed out. It was far too quiet here. If I was in the right place, I should be swarmed with guards, mecha or otherwise. The lack of security was somehow more disconcerting than a sudden attack would be.

The lockpick let out a shrill beep and the light solidified into a steady green glow. I took a shallow breath and drew my pistol from the holster attached to my Kevlar vest, which was now part of the standard equipment, just in case.

The door slid left, into the wall, and my free hand felt for the "hold" button on the tiny door hacker and pressed it so the door wouldn't close behind me.

Carefully I moved my hand from the robotic lockpick to join my other hand on the gun and stepped through the doorway.

There was a second door, but it had no locks or handles, and included a circular window that only an Overlander would be able to comfortably see through. So this was it. Beyond this very flimsy, probably-not-radiation-proofed door was an unstable weapon of some kind. Details didn't matter. Lucas Industries had revived a WMD project kept secret for decades, and GUN had volunteered to destroy it.

The air was charged with a strange electricity. My heart started to beat harder, but I couldn't trace a single emotion to it. Compaired to some of the other missions I had been on, this was a piece of cake. Yet, paranoia convinced me that I was mutating in the radioactive air.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar buzz at my fingertips. I looked at my hands, startled to see that they were trembling, covered in a bright yellow glow.

_What the-! _I hadn't attempted chaos control! I hadn't even thought about it!

I slid my gun back in its holster and shook my hands out. Golden drops of chaos flew from my fingertips like rain, burning tiny holes in the floor.

I took a deep breath. I had orders to leave minimal traces of my visit, so I could either disobey a direct order a chaos blast a wall apart to drain this extra energy or attempt to finish my mission the right way. It was a crying shame I had lost my restrictor cuffs a few months my mind, the answer was clear. I had to go on, but finish ASAP. Something very wrong was going on here.

I drew this pistol once more and kicked the door open. The pounding in my head and heart got more violent, and my vision swayed. I stepped through the doorway, feeling sick. It was the first time I had _ever_ felt nauseous.

Empty. I looked around the half-lit room. It had four white walls, a tile floor, this door, and fluorescent lights on the ceiling. And it was completely empty.

Or, at least, it _seemed_ empty until something flew out of a corner and slammed into my chest. It wasn't a very powerful Something, but in my weakened state, I crashed back through the door and the world went black.

* * *

_Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump…_

I drew a breath. No pain. I opened my eyes, screwing up my face against the florescent lights. The pounding in my head was gone. So was the nausea and the buzzing in my fingers.

_Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump…_

I sprang to my feet. That wasn't one heartbeat. That was _two_.

It was all suddenly clear. I was too late. A thief had stolen The Weapon. Speaking of which- I swiped my gun off the ground and cocked it. Why was the thief still here? I could hear its heartbeat…

I took a slow step back, scanning the ceiling. My shoe landed on something unexpected, and I immediately felt like a complete, total imbecile.

There was a tiny form on the ground behind me, and it was curled up as if was sleeping.

It was a… child?

Nothing was clicking. _What was a kid doing in a Lab complex? Unless it was already here…_

Against my better judgement, I crouched down beside the sleeping figure. It was furry, anthropomorphic, and wearing some sort of white jumpsuit. It had two dark grey ears, striped white fur, and a long tail that was curled tightly around its body.

A cat child? A _Mobian? _In _this _building, of all places?

I gently secured my hands under its arms and lifted it into the air. It was way too small to be an adult, and besides, the proportions were wrong.

The Mobian's tail hung straight down and its head lolled back. How long had it been since I had seen another Mobian? It had to have been years, a decade at the old partner, Rouge, had been transferred to another sector a long time ago. Rumor had it that Sonic had joined a band after Dr. Eggman's final defeat. The fox was probably with him. Knuckles had gone AWOL; last I heard, he had left civilization without so much as a goodbye to anyone. But what about the others? The pink and silver hedgehogs, the purple cat, the little rabbit, the Chaotix-

Where had they gone?

I gently laid the cat back down. I had a mission to complete. Somehow the tracking device on my wrist had malfunctioned, and I had to find that weapon before it became a threat, with or without the help of GUN's equipment.

But as I withdrew my hands, I realized they were stained red.

Was that… blood?

A Mobian child in Overlander territory is one thing, but a wounded one... I scooped the cat back up and inspected it for any signs of blood. Nothing. It was all grey and white.

Once again, I laid it on the ground. My gloves were now _soaked_. Was _I _bleeding? I stripped off both gloves. My hands were perfectly fine. I flexed them and curled them into fists. Nothing was making sense.

I stroked the gloves with a finger. To my surprise, the thick red mark disappeared wherever I touched it. I switched fingers with the same result. As soon as I got close enough, the redness would flow towards my hand and vanish before touching me.I balled up the glove in my fist and waited a few seconds. I uncurled my hand, and it was white again.

_Strange… _I thought, and did the same with the other glove. But just as I was sliding it back onto my hand, I caught a whiff of something unmistakable.

Smoke from an electrical fire, with a hint of gunpowder. Far off I could hear a muffled boom as something exploded.

Time to go.

I snatch up the cat for the third time-I couldn't leave it here to suffocate in its sleep- and passed through the open doorway, carrying the child fireman-style. I pried the ESKoff the keypad with one hand. The light on it went out and I strapped it to the belt on my vest.I didn't have an Emerald or even my restrictor cuffs to lend me chaos energy, so I started running down the hall.

Smoke started smothering the lights in the ceiling and the air quality got worse. I can hold my breath for, oh, twenty minutes or so. It's a special talent of mine. But the kid wouldn't last very long like this. Wait a minute- was it even _alive_? I hadn't even thought to check for a pulse…well, it wasn't heavy, so I decided to press on. If I could just get to a better ventilated area, I should have enough time to send out a signal to receive directions out.

…Why was the smoke getting thicker? This was the was I had come in. or was it? I cursed silently. I was probably running the wrong way. I skidded to a stop and started racing back as fast as I could.

Suddenly, they was a massive _crack! _And the ceiling and all of its pipes and wires collapsed in front of me, plunging us in utter darkness. If any time was a good time to attempt an easy escape, it was now.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

* * *

I sat across a desk from Commander Abraham Towers in a room with no walls.

The effect of the 360 degree windows left me feeling very exposed, and there was no place to hide from the Commander's gaze. It bothered me to no end that he used the exact same intimidation tactics that I did. Did the man ever _blink_? I hadn't missed the awkward stare-offs in the months since I had last seen Towers. Here I was, engaged in another one.

Towers had his fingers laced together and his elbows on the black mirror-like desk. It was exactly thirty-seven seconds before he smirked -my ear flicked in irritation; did this human throw _all_ of my trademarks back at my face?- and broke the news to me.

"The success of your last mission has earned you a transfer."

I was unimpressed.

"What sector?" I asked flatly.

Towers laughed. "Sector? You won't be working for G.U.N anymore. We're sending you to INSTAR."

The quills on my back bristled at the unexpected and assuredly bad news. "You can't do that."

Towers leaned forward, leering. "Of course I can. As a G.U.N. agent, the government owns you. And I represent the government here."

A cold feeling crept into the pit of my stomach. This couldn't be happening. I had no fondness for G.U.N., but it was literally my _life._ Hadn't I been thinking about all the connections I had let slip away by my last mission? I had nothing left. Nothing but this job.

I took a slow breath. "Isn't INSTAR a lab? Why are you sending me there?"

Towers leaned back in his chair. "I'm glad you asked."

He took a remote off his desk and clicked a button. An image flashed onto the window behind him. It was some sort of lab report. "We did some digging in the Weapon's file. We discovered a connection to another, more obscure project."

The image changed into DNA diagrams and some radiation tests. "Your last mission wasn't a failure like you reported. You did, in fact, bring us the weapon we were hunting for. The Demon Project wasn't focused on a WMD at all, at least in the way we were expecting. The Demon Project is a cat from the SubProject Desdemona."

I could have laughed, but it was very _not_ funny. I also wasn't surprised. Why did this always seem to happen? Why don't scientists build atomic bombs anymore? Why were they so obsessed with animal –especially Mobian- experimentation these days?

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked slowly.

"Well," Towers said, raising his eyebrows, "You seem to have two ears, four limbs, and a nose."

I frowned. "So do most of the other agents."

"Not after encountering Desdemona," Tower's eyes glinted.

My pelt prickled. "I still don't get it."

I was one of G.U.N.'s best agents. It didn't make sense that they would send me away just because a friend needed a babysitter.

"You were in the company of the Demon for, oh, seven minutes, yes?" Towers asked.

I nodded.

"The challenging record is two minutes and twenty-three seconds. The man, one of our top agents, lost his arm from the elbow down, along with a large chunk of his leg."

"To a tiny cat?"

"To a tiny cat," Towers confirmed.

"And you're sending me to INSTAR with it so they can study it."

His grin widened. "Yes."

"And it's my responsibility because it didn't try to kill me while it was out cold?"

"It would appear so."

I ran a hand over my ear, thinking. It wasn't like I had a choice. If I was supposed to go to INSTAR, well, it's not like I had any other options. But I did have one last question.

"Is INSTAR equipped to deal with it?"

"Her," Towers corrected. "And it was either INSTAR or Blur."

Blur.

Every quill n my body stiffened at the name. The asylum that held the broken-minded enemies of the hero of Earth and Mobius- including the infamous Dr. Eggman, who had changed his name back to Robotnik at the asylum's doors. It was funded by Mobius's hero, the Blue Blur himself.

Towers' lips drew back from his teeth at my reaction. I cursed my slip of emotions; I had let Towers know he had touched a nerve. Earth and Mobius were as corrupt as ever, but my old rival had stopped fighting shortly after Robotnik's final defeat. He was an incredible failure, and a cowardly failure at that.

"Yes," I said quietly. "INSTAR is secure enough. I will go."

"Excellent," Towers said, standing up. "Your pane leaves in an hour."

**Since the plot (yes, there's a plot) still has some bugs to work out, I gots no **_**clue**_** how often I'll update, so, erm, review! e-e**

**And hey- some things to look forward to next chapter! Shadow meets his new partner (who, judging by his spit-take, remembers Shadow very clearly), is "reuinited" with Desdemona, and other fun and important stuff! Also, some more background is explained (not all of it expected.) –plus some spoilers concerning future events!**

**-SA**


	2. The Kitsune

**A special thanks to Lord Kelvin, who wrote me a novel in the review section. I need all the help I can get! (apparently…! O-O') I noticed some setting errors last chapter- my b! Hopefully the changes I made saved… onward!**

Shadow's P.O.V.

"…_Just down the street from that break-in last week, a _lab_ called _"Lucas Industries"_ burned to the ground in _broad daylight!_ The cause of the fire is currently unknown, but so far, the investigation has unearthed the remnants of some sort of crude _bomb_… Several scientists were injured in the explosion, but none were killed. A spokesman for Lucas has confirmed that although most of their equipment was destroyed, nothing has been reported missing… The motivation behind the arson is still up for debate, but it appears that whoever is responsible had no other intention but to cause as much damage to company property as possible…"_

An incredibly rambunctious family of meerkats passed between me and the flat-screen, which was mounted to the wall of the airport baggage claim. The interruption broke my concentration, enabling me to process what I had just heard…

Something the anchor had said was bugging me: "…_nothing has been reported missing…"_

That most certainly did _not_ ring true. I distinctly remembered stealing a young cat- the whole reason I was in this overcrowded airport in the first place. Was the kitten not the Demon Project after all? Or, more likely, was Lucas Industries pretending she had never existed at all? Unbelievable. I have possibly saved Mobius from certain doom, yet again, and nobody knows it.

"Shadow the Hedgehog?"

I reached reflexively for my gun, but of course it wasn't there. G.U.N. had confiscated it for the time being, and I hadn't had enough time to get another one yet.

"Yes?" I growled carefully, slowly turning my head to eye the jumpy-looking lynx that had addressed me.

"My name is Trip," the lynx said, swallowing hard. "I'll be escorting you to INSTAR. Do you have any bags?"

"No," I grunted, and motioned for him to lead the way.

"Er… right," Trip mumbled, and turned to the west exit. He glanced at me over his shoulder, obviously nervous to have me out of his line of sight.

Unsurprisingly, the clusters of Mobian travelers fell silent as we passed them, a phenomenon I'm used to. Trip the lynx obviously wasn't, because his fur bristled more and more as we walked until he resembled a fluffy brown burr. However, the moment we stepped out of the crowded, high-ceilinged room and into the late summer sun, Trip deflated like a balloon.

"This way!" he said cheerily, an obnoxious skip in his step. As we crossed the street, a bus ran a red light and roared by a mere five feet away from us, but the lynx didn't even break his stride. I decided this male had some serious issues.

After roughly ten minutes of following my skipping escort through the sunshine, we reached an island of birch trees in the middle of a long-term airport parking lot. The instant I passed under the shadow of the first tree, Trip whirled around, a large gold ring in hand.

"Ta-da…" he sang quietly, flicking it with his other hand to make it spin. It caught the light and scattered tiny beams in all directions, satisfying the lynx immensely.

"A warp ring." I raised an eyebrow.

"Yup," Trip beamed. "Cool, i'nnit? It'll take you straight to INSTAR. I had to take you here to be _discreet."_

I frowned. So I couldn't have warped from a bathroom or something? That is why _I _make my _own _decisions. In a flash the warp ring was gone from the lynx's hand and safely in mine.

"So old Finitivus finally spilled…" I muttered, examining the liquid gold ring. Mobius's top engineers had been trying to replicate the eccentric echidna's inventions for years. I glared up at Trip.

"_You_ are a ridiculous waste of time," I informed him, activating the ring. It widened to my exact height and I immediately shoved my leg through the swirly white light. Trip's eyes widened and he lunged for me. "Wait! I'm supposed to go with-"

Not waiting for him to finish his sentence, I jumped all the way through the ring and sealed it behind me, leaving him and his quixotic skipping behind. I knew if I let him though with me he would inevitably resume such frivolities. Which is unacceptable.

The lobby of the INSTAR research facility was bright and airy, but also very empty. I did a slow 180⁰ turn, taking in the window covered walls and white tile floor. Fluffy white clouds drifted across the rich blue sky and an emerald green lawn stretched out to a busy highway, broken only by a large white stone courtyard. Directly above a quiet stone fountain inside was a large animated sign that flashed, "INSTAR: THE SEARCH FOR A BRIGHTER TOMORROW BEGINS TODAY." A sleek black receptionist's desk stood in a far corner. One wide hallway stretched in front of me, and the other branched off to the left.

_TapTapTapTap… _a dark brown otter wearing a white lab coat emerged from the corridor to my left. As soon as he saw me standing aimlessly in the middle of the lobby, he made a beeline for my side. There was a ringing silence as his footsteps stopped.

"You must be Shadow."

It wasn't a question. I flicked my ear, waiting for him to continue.

"Are you armed, son?" he asked kindly. I stared at him.

"I just left a civilian airport, without any special clearance from G.U.N.. Of course I'm unarmed." I responded dully.

"Ah… of course." The otter straightened, his brown eyes searching my impassive face. "I am Professor Reed. I'll be escorting you to your new office, so, Mr. Trip, you are free to-"

The otter froze, suddenly realizing I was alone. "Where is Trip?"

"I left him behind," I muttered. "He was trying my temper."

Interestingly, Professor Reed didn't look surprised. "Well, this isn't the first time, nor will it be the last… No matter. Follow me."

The professor led me down the front hallway, which was almost half as wide as the lobby. It was flanked by interior windows on both sides, the lowest reaches of them stroked by sweeping vines, and the rest brushed by wide, exotic leaves. As a stiff breeze caused the plants to sway just right, I could make out more windows on the opposite side.

After a few moments the hallway split, and the otter took the right fork, down a hallway that had a plain white wall dotted with doors on one side but more floor-to-ceiling windows on the other. We took several more turns, most of the corridors lined with these windows.

Finally, Professor Reed slowed his pace and turned down another hallway, which was predictably enclosed by windows, but led to a single, unmarked door. He pulled a lanyard attached to an electronic keycard out of the pocket of his lab coat and waved it in front of a small box on the wall by the door.

There was a dull thunk and the otter opened the door, holding it for me.

Inside was a closet-sized space with two other doors, one in front and one to the left. The professor unlatched the door to the left and announced, "Meet your new partner!"

Partner? I narrowed my eyes. I had not been _informed_ that I had to work with someone…!

No. Oh no.

I caught my first eyeful of my new coworker, and oh Chaos, if my throat wasn't clear I would've choked from shock- and it takes a _lot_ to surprise me.

The young male sitting at the paper-covered desk wasn't so lucky. As his wheeled office chair was spinning towards us, he was taking a long drink from a bottle of water. The moment his deep blue eyes lighted on my face, he inhaled the water and doubled over, coughing and gagging.

"Pull yourself together, Miles," Professor Reed scolded lightly, amused.

The yellow kitsune stumbled to his feet, wheezing.

"_Please_ tell me you're joking!" he choked, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"I am not," the professor said, turning stern. "You will be working together for as long as this project lasts. I am sure you two will get along famously."

"But-" The otter stepped back through the door and snapped it shut before the fox could finish. A few papers rustled in the breeze of his exit. Sonic's closest friend stared at the closed door, unmoving, his mouth hanging open slightly.

As was habit, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. His eyes apprehensively slid into mine.

"Tell me you're not who I think you are," he begged quietly.

"… I remember you," I said, ignoring his plea completely. "You built machines for that blue hedgehog."

The kitsune flinched and flattened his ears like I had hit him. "Y-yeah…."

He sat down suddenly and started rapidly flipping through the papers on his desk. I could immediately tell that there was something… _off…_ about him. It was more than the fact that he was almost as tall as me _and_ wearing clothes, grey sweatpants and a sleeveless red-and-white striped shirt. He had a weird… twitch. I distinctly remembered that he used to possess an insufferable abundance of courage- so what happened to make him so anxious?

"We ran some tests on Subproject Desdemona earlier today…" the fox said, almost to himself. He turned completely around to dig through a stack of papers on the floor, and at the same time that I noticed a small diamond-shaped tattoo on his neck, I realized I couldn't remember his name.

"What is my purpose here… Tails, is it?"

The yellow kitsune turned to stone for a minute, halting in mid-flip. At that moment, I also noticed several silver studs in each ear.

"Miles…" he muttered. Then, in a louder voice, he said, "My name is Miles."

Whatever makes you happy. "All right _Miles,_ how long will this mission take?"

Miles pulled away from the avalanche of paperwork on his desk and started clicking around on his many computers instead. "Maybe I didn't print it yet… how long? Well, we're hoping to socialize her enough to work with, and if and when you accomplish _that_, G.U.N. will probably take you back."

Socialize? I looked away from him and into a dark corner. I had to track down a rogue G.U.N. agent once, and someone had talked about needing to "socialize" him once he was in custody. The rogue was _crazy_! He took out half of my team before we could restrain him.

Somewhere in the nest of papers a timer beeped. Miles looked up from the computer, ears pricked. "Huh. Now what did I set that timer for…"

He started digging around in the papers again, this time to find the source of the beeping. I finally took the chance to look around the office.

There were two tables, pushed together in an "L" shape, in the far corner, which was where the papers were strewn. At the end of one was a small refrigerator and on the other was a large printer. All the walls were lined with filing cabinets and stabbed through with thumb tacks, which held up various abstract equations. The thin blue carpet was covered in paper as well, but it was also littered with paper balls and cardboard boxes. There were no lights except for what spilled out from the computer monitors and a giant window that took up the top half of the left side of the right wall.

"Ah-hah!" Miles snatched up a small timer and turned it off, but didn't put it down. He frowned at it. "But what did I set it for…?"

While he puzzled over this, I attempted to look through the window without actually moving. Instead of the outside world, it seemed to be showing the inside of yet another room. That was strange…

The kitsune cursed suddenly. I stared at him, a bit taken aback. He threw the timer over his shoulder and yanked the refrigerator door open. It had a few food products in it, but it was mostly filled by tiny, inch-high bottles. He plucked two purple ones off two different shelves and slammed the door shut. He set them on his desk and jumped over a stack of papers to go through his drawers at lightning speed.

"Yes!" he said, holding a syringe in the air victoriously. He uncapped it with his teeth and picked up the purple bottle with a pale liquid swirling around in it. Holding it upside down between his middle and index fingers, the two-tailed fox fed the tip of the needle right through the top of the bottle and slowly dragged the stopper down. After injecting the contents of one bottle into the other one, which had some sort of powder in it, Miles started gently rolling the bottle up and down his palm, using the needle as an axle.

"We have to do this fast," he said seriously, though it sounded like '_We haff do do dis fasht'_. He spit the cap into his hand and popped back over the sharp needle tip. "She has to filter all the anesthesia out of her system soon, of it'll mess with the tests tomorrow."

He handed the syringe to me. "Pull up her scruff and inject this at the base, parallel to her spine."

"You want me to- is it a good idea to stick a wild animal with needles?" I stared at the syringe in my hand.

"It's only _one,_" Miles shrugged. "Besides, she's asleep. This injection will wake her up."

I curled my fist around the plastic cylinder. "How quickly?"

Miles pulled his ears back and grinned like a cornered animal- all teeth. "Who knows? One way to find out, right?"

**A/N: **_**man **_**was this chapter boring! I had planned on writing more, but I was like, "hey! 2,000 words!" and figured this was as good a spot to leave off at as any. For those of you who are as bored with this chapter as I am, have no worries! The story will pick up in, I dunno, four chapters at the most, depending on if I do page breaks or dice the stuff into smaller chapters. It'll be worth it, I promise! **

**How did you like Tails? :P I actually didn't like him all that much until I was trying to find a character for his role. His strange new appearance and personality will be explained in the next chapter. Please review! I'm a new writer and need all the help I can get! Just try not to be condescending. I'm new, but I'm not an **_**idiot **_** XD **

***note: any random OC's I add are for convenience. No use in wasting a perfectly good cannon character for a one-page role. I don't expect you to keep up with the little guys. So don't.***


	3. Behind Enemy Lines

**In the interest-of-interest, I'm gonna take a chapter to introduce the villain… kind of. You still won't know who it is, exactly, but it'll at least give you a vague idea of what's going on. This'll also be a pretty short update. So yeah. Yay follower/favoriter/reviewers! I love you all dearly!**

3rd POV

Commander Abraham Towers stared intently at a hologram suspended several inches above his desk. The surrounding windows had been electronically tinted, giving the illusion of a pre-mature dusk. A cross-section of an austere-looking building, made completely of blue light, revolved slowly as the Commander studied it.

_Wsst._

The door to his private office slid open. The Commander squinted through the blue hologram at the silhouette in his office, sighed, and slid his fingers across the surface of the desk. The hologram flickered and died.

"I didn't think your kind came out in the daylight," he mused, pressing the tips of his fingers together.

Two more silhouettes joined the first. The room brightened as the windows cleared, revealing three Mobians standing in a point.

"You were mistaken," said the first. The other two, standing several steps behind their leader, narrowed their eyes.

Commander Towers sighed. "I suppose you are here for a status report?"

Laughing humorlessly, the first Mobian said, "You would suppose correctly. Is everything in place?"

"Yes. The girl is already at INSTAR, as you ordered."

"And the hedgehog?"

"Shadow should arrive shortly, if he isn't there already."

The Mobian smiled slowly. "You have served me well, Overlander."

The three Mobians turned on heal to leave, the second and third stopping in the doorway to let their leader pass.

"So am I free now?"

The first Mobian stopped, and raised a relaxed hand into the air. The Commander's heart plummeted to his stomach. He could feel that he had just made a grave mistake.

"To answer your question, no. I have use for you yet." The Mobian turned his cold eyes to the white-faced human. "However, in asking, you have violated our agreement. You were to unquestioningly obey my every order. No questions. Good day, Overlander."

He closed his fist tightly. The effect was instantaneous.

"_NO! Please!_"

_WHAM._

The Commander's eyes rolled up in his head as he slammed face-first into the desk and slid, lifelessly, to the floor.

As the first Mobian stepped through the doorway, he quietly commanded, "_Follow."_

The other two silently fell in step behind him. A line of eerily motionless anthros stood at attention, waiting for their leader to pass.

"Status?" he murmered.

"My Lord," one of the guards that had followed him into the office humbly said, "The agent at INSTAR awaits your command."

The lead Mobian nodded his understanding. "Tell him to test our pet theory. Then he is free to rejoin his brethren."

There was a sudden flurry of movement from the left side of the hallway. A scowl grew on the leader's face as he motioned for his followers to stop.

"Ah, you," he muttered. A Mobian hedgehog in a red and gold jumpsuit had his back pressed up against the wall, shaking uncontrollably as he took rapid, shallow breaths through his nose. The anthros beside him seemed blind and deaf to his erratic behavior. "I knew you would give me trouble."

He lifted a hand to smooth back the pointed blue ears. A low growl erupted from the hedgehog's throat as he glared at the first Mobian with smoldering emerald eyes.

The Mobian leader stepped back into line and commanded, "Control him."

The blue hedgehog clenched his navy-gloved fists and lowered his head to his chest for several moments. When he raised it again, the shaking had stopped and his eyes had dulled. He gave his lord a slow, reassuring smile.

"Very good."

The motley line of followers continued down the hallway of G.U.N. without any further incidents. They walked in sync with perfectly harmonious movements. And burned into every neck was a diamond-shaped tattoo.

**A/N so that's it for now! I left out a lot of details on purpose, because identities will come in time. But I'm sure you can guess who one person is…! I want to hear your thoughts and observations! Please review!**


	4. A Demon Makes Its Exit

**Dang! I've never updated this fast! *pats self on back* so here we go, back INSTAR!**

Shadow's P.O.V.

"Oh, let me get that for you."

Beside me were Miles' office and the kitsune himself. Behind was the exit, and before me was the lion's den- or should I say, the lion _cub's_ den.

Miles swiped a keycard into the slot by the door; there was a slight _click_ as it unlocked. As I pushed the door open slightly, I looked over my shoulder at Miles, who hadn't gone back into his office yet. I was met by the creepiest smile I had ever seen on man or beast. His nervous movements had completely ceased, and he held his shoulders at an almost predatory angle. Sensing a threat, I almost attacked him on reflex.

"_Yes?" _I asked through gritted teeth. He had no right to smirk at me like that.

The grin dropped off his face, and his nervous movements resumed. "Oh, sorry. I'll go back to my office now…."

Something was still off. I narrowed my gaze, searching his face. Something was wrong with his eyes… they were dull, the pupils tinted red like an albino's. He darted back into his office and slammed the door shut.

I shook my head and pushed the heavy door completely open. The white tile followed me through the threshold of a bright, square room with intense white walls. Even more intense was a loud buzzing in my head, not caused by the florescent lights above my head. I recognized it as the same buzz, though not as strong, that I had gotten back at Lucas- the sound was almost a feeling, and spread to my fingers and toes, making them numb.

Still gripping the syringe in my hand, I crossed the room, letting the door shut behind me. There were only two spots of grey in the entire space: some sort of gravel-filled box sunken into the corner of the room, and a small grey-and-white striped cat lying peacefully on a white mat on the floor, her hands tightly clasped and resting on her stomach. Making a slow circle around her, I debated how I should do this. Sit her upright? Pick her up? The buzzing was making it hard to think. I took a breath and rolled her onto her stomach, her tail flopping lifelessly as her body turned.

The buzzing was gone.

Breathing slowly with relief, I grabbed the loose skin below her short, feathery, white hair. Biting the cap off the syringe, I slid the needle up through the hollow created by the pull of her pelt, parallel to the spine, as that the tube was empty, I pulled it out and recapped it. As I did so, I saw that my gloves were blood red _again_.

I turned to the wall that separated this room form Miles' office, and was met with my own determined expression. The window that I had seen in the other room must have actually been a two-way mirror.

"Kitsune," I demanded, holding up my hand, "What is this?"

_Click._ "What is what?" _Click._

Miles' voice came out of a speaker in the ceiling, obviously controlled by the pressing of a button, like some intercom systems.

"My glove keeps getting colored by something. Do you have any hypotheses as to what that something is?"

_Click._ "You feeling okay? Your glove is white… is it not supposed to be?" _Click._

I stared at the mirror in stony silence. After a few moments, a small compartment opened up on the wall by the two-way mirror.

_Click._ "O-kay then, just stick 'em in there with the syringe and I'll take a look at 'em later." _Click._

I crossed the room, stripping off my gloves, and stuck the three items in the angled metal bin, which was probably designed to be open in the other room when it appeared to be closed on the other side. As the compartment clanged shut, I heard a dull thump behind me. I whirled around, readying myself to do whatever needed to be done.

_Click. _"Ah, she's awake." _Click._

Awake she was. Desdemona was already standing on two feet, tail bushed, claws out, ears back, and hissing. Her pale grey eyes, heavily outlined with black, were narrowed at the mirror and, indirectly, at me.

"What should I be doing now, exactly?" I asked, much relieved. Despite her attempts to be "scary," I was unimpressed. If she was truly psychotic, she would have attacked by now.

Before Miles could reply, she dropped her stance, posture completely relaxed, and flicked her tail disinterestedly. Without another sound, she meandered to one of the walls and stroked it with both hands. As I watched, she lifted an exceptionally small hand off the smooth white surface and began to draw a line around the room with one finger, occasionally pausing to draw a loop about an inch in diameter every few feet.

_Click. _"Just thought I'd point out a little somethin' here-" Miles said suddenly, "-if you would be so kind as to look at her feet for me, you'll notice the arch of her foot has elongated considerably, and the bones higher up her leg have been shortened… we aren't really sure _why _this is yet, but the structure is reminiscent of all feline species from before the First Day of Fury, when Earth ended and life on Mobius began anew." _Click._

Prompted by his rather flashy monologue, I looked at her feet for one moment but quickly looked away. She was walking on her toes, forced to take slow, deliberate steps to avoid falling over. Her instinct seemed to be telling her to walk upright, but her body refused to cooperate. Her over-long tail was held several inches above the floor to help keep balance, but it was rather sad to watch, like a bird with broken wings.

Once she got to the mirror, she lifted her hand and studied the fixture closely, her eyes tracking some sort of movement beyond it. After a moment, unexpectedly, she waved. Moving on, she continued to feel her line until she reached the point at which she began. Then she plopped down on the floor in front of the wall and _stared._

_Click. _"Well _that _was weird… since you probably couldn't tell, the little circles she traced on the wall pinpoint all of the reachable hidden camera lenses in this room… I don't know what she's looking at now, but when I noticed she could see me through the glass I waved, and she waved _back…_ hey Shadow… can you do something for me?"

Not waiting for an answer he said, "Wave your hand like you're throwing a baseball or something." _Click._

A bit suspicious about his request, I drew my hand to my chest and swiped it out in an arc with minimum force.

"_WHOA!"_

A blazing red fireball came out of nowhere, blackening the two-way mirror and licking three out of the four walls, strangely leaving me and the cat completely unharmed. After a minute of snarling obscenities at the kitsune for asking me to do whatever-I-had-just-done, I choked out, "What was _THAT?!"_

_Click. _ "I- _ARRG!_"

_K-SHHHT SHHRT!_

Miles let out a yell and the intercom shorted out. After a few seconds of static, a piercing whine drilled through my skull. I instinctively pressed my ears against my head. "Miles! What's going on?!"

Either he couldn't hear me or wasn't able to answer. I hastened to the door and was forced to uncover one ear in order to look for some way to force my way out. There was a button by the door, but if it was that easy, Desdemona could escape at any time… but intelligent people have been known to overlook such things, so I took a chance and smashed my finger into the button. I saw a small light flash- it was a finger-print scanner!

After a _click_ I dug my fingers into the doorframe, since the designer didn't have quite enough insight to include a door handle. I glanced over my shoulder, ears pinned to my head in pain, to make sure the kitten stayed put. She hadn't made any sign that she could sense that anything was going on.

I thought getting into the kitsune's office would be the most difficult part, next to keeping myself from bashing his skull in for the unexpected fireball. To my surprise both his office _and_ the exit door were wide open, half-wrenched off their hinges.

"Kitsune?" I asked cautiously, peering through the small foyer. I let the door to Desdemona's room shut behind me.

The small, cramped office was dimmer than it had been a few minutes ago; the blackened mirror prevented the usual amount of light from getting in, so I couldn't see into the shadows until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Several papers were still drifting to the ground like snow. There was a dark figure sprawled out on the floor; I could make out the white stripes on a sleeveless t-shirt…

"Mmmn… my 'ead…" a voice muttered, rising slowly from the ground.

"What happened in here?" I asked from the doorway.

Miles screamed like a small female, slipped on several sheets of paper, and landed on his twin tails. "What- What are- Why-!"

"What am I doing here?" I asked, a bit taken aback.

"Yes- oh, OH! The kid! That's right! I'm sorry, I'll get you all set up, I'm sorry, but _ow_, my head…" He picked himself back up off the floor and scrambled for the small refrigerator. Even though he was saying a lot at once, his tone was completely apologetic instead of intensely nervous.

When he pulled out two small purple bottles, I said, "What are you doing? I've done that already!"

Miles turned back to me, confused. "What do ya mean, 'I've done that already?'"

He seemed to realize something the moment I noticed something myself.

"Oh! How could I have forgotten!"

"Did you not use to have a tattoo?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Come again?" Miles said politely, since we had spoken at the same time.

"Your neck. Did you not use to have a tattoo?" Where the shape of a diamond used to be was nothing but smooth yellow fur.

The kitsune laughed and rubbed his neck, as if genuinely amused. "A tattoo? Ain't nobody got time fo' dat! You must've hit your head as well…"

He had a bit of a point… why _would _he get a tattoo? For a Mobian, that would mean getting a specific patch of fur lasered off several times, getting the skin inked, and then regularly having the surrounding fur trimmed. It seemed like a lot of work for a simple diamond.

I frowned at him, crossing my arms. "What do you remember?"

Miles shrugged. "Well I remember everything _now,_ I just had a little memory lapse is all."

I lowered my head at him, and he hastily added, "I was sitting here, talking to ya, and my neck started burning and I think I hit my head on the control panel."

"So you did not see anyone? These doors are dented badly…"

The kitsune smiled helplessly. My eyes narrowed as I stared into his. Strange… when I had looked at his eyes earlier, they were dull and the pupils looked red, but now they looked as ordinary as ever…

Pleasantly enough, he said, "Shall we get you back in there?"

**A/N thanks to ShinyShiny9 (guest) **_**now**_**, since I can't do that via PM. I'm happy to report the action will be picking up shortly! Yaaaaay…! As always, please give feedback!**


	5. Grow Up

**A/N: I don't think I mentioned this before, but this story takes place in the "Archieverse," because Archie is very detailed in its description of Sonic's world, so there is more material to go off of.**

Miles' P.O.V.

I was more than a bit unsettled as I watched Shadow go back in the White Room and sit next to Desdemona. What had just _happened_?

Admittedly, I haven't been myself lately, and I'm not afraid to admit it scares me. Until a few moments before, I felt out of control, like my mind wasn't mine anymore. There were these crazy, out-of-character urges that would hit me out of nowhere, and if I didn't follow them, I would get a massive headache and, on occasion, would black out. At other moments, I would find myself doing weird things subconsciously, like biting my own wrists or making faces at random passerby.

A few moments ago I had been hit by the worst attack I had ever had- and I could remember more of the experience than I let on.

It started with my heartbeat, which increased dramatically until I was sure I was having a heart attack. Then I asked Shadow to do something, without knowing why or having any idea how to stop myself from doing so. And when he did, there was a moment of fear, relief, and euphoria- the happy feelings were unexplainable, but the fear might've had something to do with the enormous fireball that headed straight for me. After that…

It was hard to describe- at first I thought my eyes might've been crossing, then everything went numb, I couldn't breathe, and felt myself careening forward, like I had been pushed. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the ground while my neck burned like someone had dropped hot coals on it.

The instant I saw Shadow's cold, red eyes, my weakened mind went into panic mode. For some reason, I thought I was in outer space, on a specific journey with Cosmo…

Hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion, I tucked in my tails and sat in my rolling chair. Since my memory had returned, I realized I still hadn't found the lab results… Ah, but what was this? I pulled a manila folder labeled "Desdemona, Project" out from under my keyboard. I yawned and tossed it back on the desk.

Glancing out the two-way mirror, I saw that Shadow had joined the kitten in her wall-staring activities. I could only hope he was staring because she was, and not because my new partner had lost his marbles too. Glancing at the file, I yawned again. I could review it later. I was _so_ tired…

_Strange how the air could taste like gravel. And how the sky could look like it. And how my mouth felt like it was full of it, even though I was several hundred feet above the ground._

"_Oi! Tails! How's that engine coming?"_

_I squinted up through my sweaty bangs, trying to locate the owner of the voice while snipping a wire in the control panel of a blue machine I had built with my own two hands. _

"_Almost got it, Sonic!" I called in my little-kid voice. High up in a skyscraper, a cobalt-blue hedgehog gave me a thumbs up while tightly gripping the windowsill with his other hand._

_Biting my tongue, I checked to make sure all the wiring was correct, and gave my brother a thumbs up back. "Ready, Sonic!"_

_I carefully held the last two wires at eye level and pressed them together._

_KA-CH-CH-CH-WHRrr._

_Yes! Success! As the engine started up, I saw a blue streak race down the side of a skyscraper. As my vehicle backed up slowly ,steadily picking up speed, Sonic launched himself off the ground, leaving a crater from the impact, and neatly spin-dashed the back of the robot's two spindly legs. Just as we planned, the top-heavy robot crashed backwards into the evacuated building. Now it was my turn to pull its legs out from under it completely, so Sonic could deliver the finishing blow._

_Without warning, my own creation put on a burst of speed so great it flipped itself over, with me inside, as well as toppled Doctor Eggman's machine._

"_Tails! You alright, buddy?!"_

_I sat up slowly, rubbing my bruised head. "I'm fine! …I think."_

_Standing up unsteadily on the ceiling, I glance around to assess the damage. Almost every window had shattered, littering the ground with slick pieces of broken glass. I climbed out the front windshield, prepared to help as best as I could until I saw what lay, shattered, on the asphalt._

"_No…!" I whimpered. "Cosmo…."_

"_Tails!" Sonic suddenly appeared before me, happily smudged with dirt and grease. "C'mon buddy, we've got a 'bot to beat! Let's GO!"_

_I stared blankly at the fragments of fresco and clump of black soil that used to be the pot that housed Cosmo's seed. Sonic caught my look and rubbed his head impatiently. "Gosh, buddy, I'm real sorry."_

"_Cosmo…" I said again._

"_WHOA!" Sonic yelled as a large metal fist slammed into the road a hair's breath away from him. "__Watch it, Egghead! I'm talkin' here!"_

The seed hadn't progressed past a seed yet, but I never gave up hope... not until now...

"Tails! Snap out of it! It's a friggin' cuppa dirt! AIII-_!"_

I blinked in surprise as Sonic wizzed high into the air, held aloft by one leg.

Suddenly, I was back at the Freedom Fighter's HQ, celebrating another victory with the other Freedom Fighters.

I noticed Sonic trying to catch my eye, and warily approached him.

"Listen, Tails," Sonic said earnestly, putting his hands on my shoulders, "You and I both know that wasn't your best work out there."

I shifted uncomfortably. "I know, I'm sorry..."

"Tails. I need you, WE need you, to forget about her. For your own good and our's."

My eyes widened. "I'm sorry Sonic, I just can't do that."

My brother's emerald eyes hardened. "Then maybe you can do this: grow up, Tails."

My eyes began to sting with tears, but I just COULDN'T cry in front of everybody. Pushing his hands off my small shoulders, I said,  
  
"It's Miles."

I sat bolt upright, realizing I had spoken the last word's from my dream out loud. It was weird that I could remember it word-perfect like that.

Interestingly, that was one of our final battles with Eggman, and one of our easiest victories too. His attacks had gotten decidedly weaker in his last few weeks as a sane man- "sane" being a loose term. I had only spoken to my ex-best friend a handful of times since then.

"Kitsune."

I turned to see Shadow in the doorway.

"It is late. I will return at dawn."

As he started to leave, I realized we hadn't really gotten much work done. "Wait! There's still enough to do a few behavioral tests before you go!"

He eyed my thoughtfully. "I- how you say- 'ain't got time for that.'"

The next moment, he was gone. I was so surprised that I laughed before I could even comprehend what was funny. I had totally forgotten what, in my temporary delirium, I had said… and the words seemed strange coming from his mouth. That was strange, because they wouldn't have, "before."

I turned my attention to Desdemona, who was still staring at the wall. With a sigh, I flipped off the lights and left.

**A/N: so I had 98% of this finished the same day I posted the last chapter, but it's taken me 'til now to post it… I am such a failure… D: after some extensive research, I concluded that THE ONLY things Sonic and Tails have fought over were girls, which made this hard… and yes, Cosmo was very briefly shown in Archie.**

**Anyway, I have TONS of summer homework, so this'll be 'so long' for a while… but, as always, I'm psyched for the next chapter! **


End file.
